Systems and techniques for aggregation, display, and sharing of data

Abstract

Systems and techniques for aggregation, display, and sharing of data. One or more content rules define the content of a data package. Data objects are associated with the data package based on the content rules. Each data object is also associated with a respective source channel and a respective time when the data object was made available on the associated channel. The channels correspond to different third-party communication applications. Graphic items are displayed on timelines, where each timeline is associated with a respective channel and each graphic item represents one or more of the data objects made available on the channel. Each graphic item is displayed on the corresponding timeline at a position corresponding to the one or more times associated with the data objects represented by the graphic item.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
 identifying one or more data packages accessible to a first user, and displaying, for each respective data package, an icon corresponding to the respective data package, wherein each respective data package is associated with one or more content rules that define content of the respective data package; 
 receiving, via a user interface component of a user interface, user input indicative of selection by the first user of one of the icons wherein the selected icon corresponds to a first data package; 
 identifying a plurality of first data objects associated with the first data package based, at least in part, on the one or more content rules associated with the first data package, wherein each respective first data object includes (1) a value of an attribute indicating a respective data channel associated with the respective first data object, and (2) a tag representing a respective time associated with the respective first data object; 
 displaying a plurality of timelines via the user interface, wherein a number of the displayed plurality of timelines is automatically determined based, at least in part, on a number of unique values of the attribute indicating the respective data channels associated with the respective first data objects; and 
 displaying first graphic items arranged on the plurality of timelines, wherein each timeline is associated with a respective one of the data channels, wherein each respective first graphic item displayed on a respective timeline represents one or more of the plurality of first data objects having the attribute value indicating the respective data channel associated with the respective timeline, and wherein each respective first graphic item is displayed on the respective timeline at a position on the respective timeline corresponding to the respective times associated with the one or more of the plurality of first data objects represented by the respective first graphic item. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein each data package is associated with one or more access rules, and wherein identifying the one or more data packages accessible to the first user comprises:
 determining that the respective access rules associated with each respective data package allow the first user to access the respective data package. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more access rules associated with the first data package specify at least one secret criterion for accessing the first data package, and wherein identifying the one or more data packages accessible to the first user comprises:
 identifying the first data package as being accessible to the first user based, at least in part, on activity of the first user satisfying the at least one secret criterion. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising determining, based on the one or more access rules of the first data package, what type of access to the first data package is granted to the first user, wherein the type of access includes one or more of: read access, write access, and administrative access. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more access rules for the first data package require the first user to be located in a specified geographic area, a current time to be in a specified time period, or both. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 determining that the one or more access rules associated with the first data package allow the first user to grant other users access to the first data package by sharing the first data package with the other users. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the plurality of first data objects associated with the first data package based on the one or more content rules associated with the first data package comprises:
 retrieving one or more candidate first data objects from a social network account of a member of the first data package, wherein each of the candidate first data objects includes a respective message. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the one or more content rules associated with the first data package include one or more criteria for inclusion of content in the first data package, and wherein identifying the plurality of first data objects associated with the first data package based on the one or more content rules associated with the first data package further comprises:
 discarding any candidate first data objects that do not satisfy the one or more criteria for inclusion. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more candidate first data objects include a particular candidate data object, wherein the particular candidate data object includes a particular message, and wherein the one or more criteria for inclusion of the particular candidate data object includes presence of one or more keywords in a subject line of the particular message or presence of the one or more keywords in a hash tag in the particular message. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the plurality of first data objects associated with the first data package based on the content rules associated with the first data package comprises:
 retrieving one or more messages sent by one or more members of the first data package to one or more other members of the first data package. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one first data object in the plurality of first data objects comprises one or more of: a social network post, a micro blog message, an electronic mail message, a text message, an image, an electronic file, and a message. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving input from the first user indicative of placing a new data object on one of the timelines; and 
 providing the new data object to one or more other users to which the first data package is available. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , wherein the new data object comprises one or more of: a social network post, an electronic mail message, a text message, a micro blog message, an image, an electronic file, and a message. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 making a determination that the first user is connected to a second user on one or more social networks or that the first user and the second user share one or more interests; and 
 based on the determination: generating the first data package, wherein the first user and the second user are members of the first data package, and associating a particular content rule with the first data package, wherein the particular content rule indicates that content generated by the first user or the second user is eligible for inclusion in the first data package. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first data package has first content at a first time, and wherein the method further comprises:
 performing a hashing operation on the first content of the first data package at the first time, wherein performing the hashing operation produces a hash value; and 
 persistently storing the first content of the first data package and the corresponding hash value. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the hash value is a first hash value, and wherein the method further comprises:
 verifying integrity of the first content by performing the hashing operation on the first content again, wherein performing the hashing operation again produces a second hash value, and by comparing the first hash value to the second hash value. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the first content of the first data package and the corresponding hash value are persistently stored in a distributed ledger. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first data package is associated with one or more destruction rules specifying at least one criterion for destroying the first data package, and wherein the method further comprises:
 determining whether the at least one criterion is satisfied; and 
 if the at least one criterion is determined to be satisfied, destroying the first data package. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the at least one criterion for destroying the first data package is satisfied if a current date and time are later than a date and time specified in the criterion. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the number of displayed plurality of timelines is equal to the number of unique values of the attribute among the attribute values of the plurality of first data objects and all other data objects associated with the first data package. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the number of displayed plurality of timelines is equal to the number of unique values of the attribute among the attribute values of the plurality of first data objects. 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first data objects include a particular first data object, wherein the one or more data packages include a particular data package, and wherein the method further comprises determining a relevance of the particular first data object to the particular data package. 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 22 , wherein the relevance of the particular first data object to the particular data package is determined based, at least in part, on (1) an extent to which data objects of the particular data package are provided by a same entity that provided the particular first data object, (2) an extent to which data in a payload of the particular first data object matches data in payloads of the data objects of the particular data package, and/or (3) an extent to which locations represented by geotags of the data objects of the particular data package are proximate to a location represented by a geotag of the particular first data object. 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first data package is associated with an access rule that determines which users are permitted to access the first data package, and wherein the one or more content rules associated with the first data package limit the content of the first data package to content generated by the users permitted to access the first data package. 
     
     
       25. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying a plurality of second data objects associated with the first data package, wherein each identified second data object represents a user-provided annotation to the first data package; 
 displaying an additional timeline; and 
 displaying second graphic items arranged on the additional timeline, wherein each second graphic item displayed on the additional timeline represents one or more of the plurality of second data objects. 
 
     
     
       26. The method of  claim 25 , wherein a particular second data object represents a user-provided annotation of a particular first data object. 
     
     
       27. The method of  claim 26 , further comprising displaying graphical content linking a particular second graphic item representing the particular second data object to a particular first graphic item representing the particular first data object. 
     
     
       28. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identified data packages comprise a second data package, the method comprising:
 determining that the first data package is related to the second data package; 
 identifying a plurality of second data objects associated with the second data package based, at least in part, on one or more content rules associated with the second data package, wherein each respective second data object includes (1) a value of an attribute indicating a respective data channel associated with the respective second data object, and (2) a tag representing a respective time associated with the respective second data object; 
 displaying second graphic items arranged on the plurality of timelines, wherein each respective second graphic item displayed on the respective timeline represents one or more of the plurality of second data objects having the attribute value indicating the respective data channel associated with the respective timeline, and wherein each respective second graphic item is displayed on the respective timeline at a position on the respective timeline corresponding to the respective times associated with the one or more of the plurality of second data objects represented by the respective second graphic item. 
 
     
     
       29. A computer-implemented method comprising:
 identifying one or more data packages accessible to a first user, and displaying, for each respective data package, an icon corresponding to the respective data package, wherein each respective data package is associated with one or more content rules that define content of the respective data package; 
 receiving selection by the first user of one of the icons wherein the selected icon corresponds to a first data package; 
 identifying a plurality of first data objects associated with the first data package based, at least in part, on the one or more content rules associated with the first data package, wherein each first data object is associated with a respective source channel of a plurality of different channels, and is associated with a respective time the first data object was made available on the respective source channel, wherein at least two of the plurality of different channels correspond to different third-party communication applications; and 
 displaying first graphic items arranged on timelines via a user interface, wherein each timeline is associated with a respective one of the source channels of the plurality of different channels, wherein each respective first graphic item displayed on a respective timeline represents one or more of the plurality of first data objects made available on the respective source channel corresponding to the respective timeline, and wherein each respective first graphic item is displayed on the respective timeline at a position on the respective timeline corresponding to the respective times associated with the one or more of the plurality of first data objects represented by the respective first graphic item, 
 wherein the identified data packages comprise a second data package, the method further comprising:
 determining that the first data package is related to the second data package; 
 identifying a plurality of second data objects associated with the second data package based, at least in part, on one or more content rules associated with the second data package, wherein each second data object is associated with the respective source channel of the plurality of different channels, and is associated with a respective time the second data object was made available on the respective source channel; and 
 displaying second graphic items arranged on the timelines, wherein each respective second graphic item displayed on the respective timeline represents one or more of the plurality of second data objects made available on the respective source channel of the plurality of different channels corresponding to the respective timeline, and wherein each respective second graphic item is displayed on the respective timeline at a position on the respective timeline corresponding to the respective times associated with the one or more of the plurality of second data objects represented by the respective second graphic item. 
 
 
     
     
       30. The method of  claim 29 , wherein determining that the first data package is related to the second data package comprises:
 determining that the first data package and the second data package have one or more keywords or hashtags in common. 
 
     
     
       31. A system including:
 one or more data processing devices; and 
 one or more storage devices storing instructions for execution by the one or more processing devices to perform operations including: 
 identifying one or more data packages accessible to a first user, and displaying, for each respective data package, an icon corresponding to the respective data package, wherein each respective data package is associated with one or more content rules that define content of the respective data package; 
 receiving, via a user interface component of a user interface, user input indicative of selection by the first user of one of the icons wherein the selected icon corresponds to a first data package; 
 identifying a plurality of first data objects associated with the first data package based, at least in part, on the one or more content rules associated with the first data package, wherein each respective first data object includes (1) a value of an attribute indicating a respective data channel associated with the respective first data object, and (2) a tag representing a respective time associated with the respective first data object; 
 displaying a plurality of timelines via the user interface, wherein a number of the displayed plurality of timelines is automatically determined based, at least in part, on a number of unique values of the attribute indicating the respective data channels associated with the respective first data objects; and 
 displaying first graphic items arranged on the plurality of timelines, wherein each timeline is associated with a respective one of the data channels, wherein each respective first graphic item displayed on a respective timeline represents one or more of the plurality of first data objects-having the attribute value indicating the respective data channel associated with the respective timeline, and wherein each respective first graphic item is displayed on the respective timeline at a position on the respective timeline corresponding to the respective times associated with the one or more of the plurality of first data objects represented by the respective first graphic item. 
 
     
     
       32. A computer storage device having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a data processing apparatus, cause the data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
 identifying one or more data packages accessible to a first user, and displaying, for each respective data package, an icon corresponding to the respective data package, wherein each respective data package is associated with one or more content rules that define content of the respective data package; 
 receiving, via a user interface component of a user interface, user input indicative of selection by the first user of one of the icons wherein the selected icon corresponds to a first data package; 
 identifying a plurality of first data objects associated with the first data package based, at least in part, on the one or more content rules associated with the first data package, wherein each respective first data object includes (1) a value of an attribute indicating a respective data channel associated with the respective first data object, and (2) a tag representing a respective time associated with the respective first data object; 
 displaying a plurality of timelines via the user interface, wherein a number of the displayed plurality of timelines is automatically determined based, at least in part, on a number of unique values of the attribute indicating the respective data channels associated with the respective first data objects; and 
 displaying first graphic items arranged on the plurality of timelines, wherein each timeline is associated with a respective one of the data channels, wherein each respective first graphic item displayed on a respective timeline represents one or more of the plurality of first data objects-having the attribute value indicating the respective data channel associated with the respective timeline, and wherein each respective first graphic item is displayed on the respective timeline at a position on the respective timeline corresponding to the respective times associated with the one or more of the plurality of first data objects represented by the respective first graphic item.